Artistic Excellence 2013 | Honorable Mention: Mark Van Crombrugge

Belgium

Mark Van Crombrugge, Old Milk Bottle and Grapes, oil, 31 x 59.

What inspired your winning entry? When I start a new painting, I never know where it is going to lead me. I like discovering things along the way. When composing, I add objects and take away things. In this painting, I was inspired by an old milk bottle I once bought at a flea market. I imagined that, once upon a long time ago, there was actually milk in this bottle. The bottle was still new back then. Was it in a kitchen on a table? Was the milk used to make a cake, or did children drink it to quench their thirst or maybe their hunger? What happened with this bottle, so that it is so scratched now? I was just wondering, so I decided to fill the bottle with milk and put it on an old table. And this was the starting point of this painting.

Where did you study art? I studied art for six years at the Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design, where I received my master’s degree. After that I studied art restoration for a year at The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels.

How would you describe your style? My style is pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get. I am looking for realism, not necessarily hyper-realism. There has to be a balance between the realistic style of painting and the subjects that I paint. I like to explain things in the painting itself, not afterward. Therefore I paint carefully, and I speak in a clear language.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be? This is easy to answer. If I weren’t an artist, I wouldn’t be me. I would not and could not exist without being an artist.

What are your goals for the future? I always have one goal, and that is to make every painting a better painting than the one before. And yes, of course, I would like to be a famous and a respected painter, but I am not a commercial type or the “artist” type. I like art, but I don’t like the art world.

What galleries represent your work? I am an einzelganger [a maverick or lone wolf]. I am not represented by any gallery, but maybe I will reconsider my decision in the near future.

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